December 2015 Babies

Possible Fifths dz & newly pregnant

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nevera1one wrote:

Hi fellow mommies! I am a little frustrated because I had some questions and concerns about a recent illness my son had and felt the on-call OB was very dismissive & kept repeating the same sentence to all my questions. My two year old spiked a fever of 101.5 (axillary) on Monday seemingly out of the blue and then by Wednesday he developed a rash. Initially I only noticed his cheeks, but by the rest of the day I saw that nearly his whole body was covered except for the soles of his feet & his palms. I noticed that his rash will flare up in the bath and when he plays outside as well, so I started leaning towards the possibility of Fifths. The fever is sort of confusing me because it was higher than I expected for Fifths, so I’m not sure if it is just Roseola. His cheeks have that “slapped” pink look though!

Anyway, the reason I even bothered the doctor is because I had mild cold symptoms this week and was concerned I could have had exposure to Fifths (which apparently can be dangerous to this pregnancy). All the info I read had said to call the doctor as closer monitoring may be necessary and blood draws could be needed. Mostly though I was just stressing and had several questions, but the doctor just kept repeating that I simply wash my hands and use standard precautions. I can’t even be sure he has it because he looks and feels fine now except for the rash that comes and goes, so I wasn’t planning on taking him to the peds Dr. I guess I am just looking for someone that has had this experience during pregnancy and what their doctor said and did. I appreciate the input and thoughts and I’m not afraid of hearing what it sounds like to you as I am a nurse but childhood diseases is definitely not my strong suit. TIA!

You’re not alone! My LO had fifth’s last year, and again a couple of weeks ago and I? am pregnant now too. I? never had fifths as a child, so OB sent me to do blood work and it turns out i have immunity - must have either picked it up from LO last year or randomly in the past without realizing it.

It only presents in my LO as a brief low-grade fever followed by the flushed cheeks a week later, so I could have easily missed it if it presents the same way with me. It’s very rare to get as a pregnant adult (and it’s only contagious during the fever part), but call your OBs office and ask them to put in a blood order to settle your mind.

Thank you very much for taking the time to respond. I finally spoke to my regular OB & he ordered some blood tests to check immunity/active infection. Good luck with your current pregnancy & I hope you are feeling better!

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